Today I would like to introduce a natural zero-calorie sweetener product called ZenSweet. It contains non-GMO erythritol and monk fruit extract.

It is similar to Lakanto but is more reasonably priced. Because of its monk fruit content, it is sweeter than erythritol and does not have a distinctive bitter aftertaste like stevia, which I cannot tolerate.

I’ve been using it to sweeten some of my favorite drinks such as green tea latte or decaf cappuccino with almond milk and really like the taste.

You can purchase it online directly from their website or at Whole Foods Maket in Illinois and some other states.

If you are not a big fan of stevia, I suggest giving it a try!

If you are not too concerned about the sugar level, this cheesecake will taste even better if you add some while chocolate chips along with macadamia nuts.

More and more people are familiar with quinoa these days and are incorporating this wonderful grain into their everyday diet. Today I am going to introduce a healthy dessert that you can make quickly when you have some leftover cooked quinoa. In the above picture, I sprinkled some unsweetened coconut flakes and added fruits.

This is a diabetic-friendly, gluten-free snack that is transportable. Keeping a healthy snack at home all the time is one of the best strategy to avoid reaching unhealthy foods when you get hungry.

Please feel free to use a combination of any nuts and seeds you like. For a liquid sweetener, I used coconut palm syrup, but you could also use other low-GI sweeteners, such as Jerusalem artichoke syrup or yacon syrup. Other higher-GI liquid sweeteners include honey, maple syrup, and brown rice syrup.

Most cauliflower pizza crust recipes call for a combination of cauliflower and cheese, but this one uses tofu instead of cheese, which can be easily converted to vegan. I used one pack of Wildwood Organic SprouTofu Firm Two Pack. Trader Joe’s has the best price for this product. Please use your favorite pizza sauce, cheese and toppings.

Notes about soy: These days soy has a bad reputation in North America and many alternative medicine practitioners recommend avoiding soy. I do not share the same opinion. Of course, if you are allergic to soy, you should avoid it by all means. Most importantly, you should never eat non-organic (=GMO) soy products. I also intuitively believe that almond/cashew/coconut milk is better than soy milk (non-GMO) unless you make your own soy milk from soaked organic soybeans. I don’t believe, however, that eating organic tofu, especially sprouted tofu, is that bad unless you eat it excessively.

Lancet, which is one of the most prestigious medical journal, published an article on August 27, 2015, announcing that Japanese men and women have the best healthy life expectancy among 188 countries in the world. The Japanese eat 13 times more soy than Americans on average. It does not seem like soy is hindering their health, does it?

My understanding is that estrogen in food is metabolized into 2-hydroxyestrone, 4-hydroxyestrone, or 16-hydroxyestrone. 2-hydroxyestrone is good estrogen and decreases risk for cancer and brings other health benefits. 4-hydroxyestrone is bad estrogen and 16-hydroxyestrone is the worst estrogen. Soy is mostly metabolized into the good estrogen and is therefore beneficial for your health. On the other hand, estrogen in dairy is metabolized into bad estrogen. I am therefore comfortable using organic tofu in some of my recipes.